Battery Tender

[tbzep]

I use my Mahindra a couple times a week so I don't need one on it at this time. However, I have a Battery Tender Jr. and a Schumacher that I keep on my motorcycles. Both work just fine for about $20. If I ever get to the point that the tractor sits for several weeks at a time, I'll add a tender to it.

 

[oosik]

I have a Deltran battery tender on both my tractor & my motorcycle. Both have fused pig tails off the battery and are left on the vehicles year round. Never had a moments problems with either. Nice to have a topped up battery when you want to go.

 

[Petrol and Powder]

P and P-

What was the application where the battery need to be isolated that cause you issues in the past? That's the most intriguing part of this post.....

A home generator with an internal battery charger that failed - it was easier (and cheaper) to isolate the battery and add an external charger than to repair the control board that included the charging system.

And - a solar trickle charger used via a cigarette lighter socket that cooked an old electro-mechanical voltage regulator. That one was probably a bad set of points in the regulator and not directly a result of the charger. I did trace it back to the regulator before I replaced it with a newer solid state unit and couldn't duplicate the issue after that so I'm not sure if that one was a combination of the charger and a bad regulator or if the charger caused the points to attempt to close just enough to kill it.

 

[RNeumann]

Ok thanks for sharing. I assume with the generator battery isolated you lost the ability to automatically start it? Or am I thinking about "isolate" in a different sense?
I have used the battery tender for years and couldn't figure a need where the "system" could see battery voltage but not get occasional input, through the battery, from the battery tender.
Since this is your thread and I don't want to hijack without you- what brand of home gen? I'm in the market for a stand-by.

 

[Petrol and Powder]

These are the two styles of plugs that I have available. I'm leaning towards the round style (used on some JD tractors and BMW motorcycles)

It's just a bit easier to use when it's cold.

 

[Petrol and Powder]

Ok thanks for sharing. I assume with the generator battery isolated you lost the ability to automatically start it? Or am I thinking about "isolate" in a different sense?
I have used the battery tender for years and couldn't figure a need where the "system" could see battery voltage but not get occasional input, through the battery, from the battery tender.
Since this is your thread and I don't want to hijack without you- what brand of home gen? I'm in the market for a stand-by.

The generator is an old Generac and it will still start automatically as long as the battery in on-line. I have to use a battery switch to isolate the battery when I charge the unit but I can revert back to automatic start-up if I need to. I just exercise it manually now and charge the battery every few weeks.

I could fix it but the unit is too old to invest the money into it at this point. If it was newer I would just buy another control board.

 

[RNeumann]

thx for the info

 

[Ford850]

View attachment 491469

These are the two styles of plugs that I have available. I'm leaning towards the round style (used on some JD tractors and BMW motorcycles)

It's just a bit easier to use when it's cold.

I use the SAE plug on the right. It's fairly universal and used with Battery Tender and BatteryMinder brands, so additional cords, pigtails, etc are easy to find. The SAE style is also used on many 12v accessories like pumps or sprayers. I'm not familiar with the one on the left, but I can see that it would be easy to use.

 

[dickfoster]

The generator is an old Generac and it will still start automatically as long as the battery in on-line. I have to use a battery switch to isolate the battery when I charge the unit but I can revert back to automatic start-up if I need to. I just exercise it manually now and charge the battery every few weeks.

I could fix it but the unit is too old to invest the money into it at this point. If it was newer I would just buy another control board.

You could likely just hook the tender up to the battery and leave it connected as the internal charger was so you don't have to fiddle with switches etc and have full auto. Most tender/maintenance chargers are made to operate this way with isolation diodes to keep the alternator from doing any damage to the charger.
My Generac was hacked by the previous owner. He went through all kinds of pain to make the generator not start automatically. DUH you just need to flip the rocker switch to manual or off fer pity sake. He'd hacked out the built in charger and wired in an external maintenance charger. He even ran an extra AC power circuit to the charger. I removed his hacks, removed and installed the maintenance charger in my tractor. Then I installed the auto switching panel that came with the generator and redid all of his bogus AC wiring. The guy was a real idiot when it came to stuff like this. The truly scary part is he is a retired airline mechanic for United and I used to fly United a lot. It sends shivers up my spine.

 

[Petrol and Powder]

I hear you reference the Generac internal charger. The problem is the internal charger, which is basically a battery tender itself, doesn't charge the battery anymore but it does seem to confuse an external charger. I suspect the diodes that prevent that back feeding may actually be defective. I don't know for sure because it's just not worth my time to trouble shoot that control board and not worth the money to replace it.

I installed a battery disconnect and I just open it when I charge the battery. Everything works as it should and it's a cheap solution for now. I installed the generator myself about 15 years ago and I'll likely try to get a few more years out of it before I replace it.